Navigating My TBR Tower: New Book Discoveries

I did it again and I’m not going to apologise for it. More books were bought and the TBR book tower I have is swaying extra painfully and wiggly today because of it.

Here’s what happened (yes, I’m going to justify myself), in a rare venture out of my cosy room (my natural habitat, if you will), I found myself in public to be deeply engrossed in Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky. BTW, is an amazing, delectable book I would maddeningly recommend to people left and right.

It’s one of those books that just cracks your mind wide open, making you ponder things you never thought you would. It’s about water OUT OF ALL THINGS (am I right??). Who knew something so seemingly ordinary could be so profound? Elif Shafak makes you see it as precious as diamonds and gold, highlighting how intricately our lives revolve around it. We rely on it for everything, yet we often take it for granted, leaving it corrupted or hidden away.

Beyond that, this incredible story gently, almost forcefully, makes you peel back the layers of our understanding of human relationships – with our spouses, family, and friends. It’s so masterfully written that at times, it makes me a little uncomfortable, catching me like a deer in headlights, prompting me to confront some thoughts I’ve had but haven’t fully explored within myself.

I’m not even halfway through, but I’m already completely smitten. This is definitely a book I’ll be revisiting for a reread, and I can’t wait to see what else I haven’t uncovered.

So, where were we? Ah yes, my rare outdoor excursion with There Are Rivers in the Sky. As fate would have it (and it always does, doesn’t it?), I found myself just a stone’s throw away from my favourite bookstore. Honestly, it feels like a crime not to pop in, just for my own peace of mind.

My usual ritual involves heading straight for the classics section first (a treasure trove of more affordable reads). And then, it happened. There she was. The book that has been practically haunting me, popping up in nearly every bookstore I’ve visited lately. It’s gotten to the point where I genuinely get confused and have to double-check my shelves to see if I already own it. She’s called The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë.

Another familiar title caught my eye: Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits. I realised then that my literary classics collection tends to lean heavily towards authors from the usual American or UK backgrounds. This was a chance to branch out. I quickly scanned the synopsis – a girl who can read fortunes, move objects with her mind, and predict the future? I was instantly sold. I knew I had to read it.

Two books, one happy girl. And not an ounce of guilt because I know I’ll eat these up once I get around to read them.